Lance Armstrong’s Morality Play

Ultimately falsehood self-destructs.

Lance Armstrong’s confession is a shock to our humanity system. The seven- time winner of the prestigious Tour de France, and one of this era’s most admired athletes, has all along been using illegal Performance Enhancing Drugs in the most sophisticated doping scheme in sports history, all the while indignantly proclaiming his honesty and integrity.

How can a human being do such a thing? It was not so much the doping – bad enough – that wounded us; it was the ongoing, passionate declarations of aggrieved innocence that betrayed us and played us for fools.

It was a form of moral violence committed against millions of people who trusted him. Though he did not attack us with guns and bullets, it was traumatic nevertheless, for this was a spiritual assault on our ability to trust in other human beings. He gave new meaning to the concept of hypocrisy, and thus affronted our innate sense of truth and integrity.

A society cannot long exist without this sense of trust in one another, without some standards of truth. No amount of legislation can help against such onslaughts. Note well the words of the Sages that one of the three pillars on which the world exists in the pillar of emet, Truth (Avot I:18).

A violation like this forces us to ask ourselves: who are we really? Are we inherently evil, or are we angels? Jewish tradition says that we are an amalgam of both. We can climb as high as the heavens or we can sink lower than the beast. We can choose life and contentment for ourselves and for others, or we can choose misery and virtual death for ourselves and for those around us. This is what the Torah in Deut.30:19 means when it tells us that God places before us both life and death, and urges us to “choose life.”

There are certain bedrock elements of human life that we violate only at our peril — not as a punishment for misdeeds, but because they are built into the fabric of the universe. Just as a tall building with a faulty foundation will eventually cave in under its own weight, so also a life — or a society, or a nation — built on shoddy moral foundations will ultimately disintegrate. Truth and integrity are the bedrock elements without which life collapses. Falsehood bears within it the seeds of its own inevitable destruction. Deprived of the bedrock, disintegration is inescapable. This explains why the three-letter Hebrew word for truth, emet, is mentioned almost 150 times in the Bible, and why this word is inscribed on God’s seal (Talmud, Shabbat 55a). The disgraced lives of so many people in public life – climaxed now by Armstrong’s self-inflicted humiliation — are cautionary tales about living without the undergirding of truth.

Anatomy of a Lie

Armstrong is a one-man morality play, a study in the anatomy of a lie. All lies start out as babies. In this case, one can speculate that perhaps the first time he used PED was because he had recently recovered from his dread illness and needed some assistance. It worked its magic, so he did it again – and again and again. The baby lie grew up, matured, and developed into bolder falsehoods involving many other people. Then he had to cover up his lie which, given his intelligence and his clean reputation, was so easy to do that he kept doing it and kept re-inventing himself. Ultimately he surely began to believe that his deceitfulness and duplicity were the truth, and that those who challenged his lies with truth were themselves liars. He even sued in court and won cases against those who challenged his honesty.

Lying to others is one thing; the Armstrong lesson is that lying to one’s own self is much easier and much more insidious. In interpersonal relationships, in friendships, in marriages, in commerce, in social life, baby lies tend to mature and to envelope the liar in their own webs. This is why the Torah in Exodus 23:14 does not simply say, “Do not lie, “ but instead says, Midvar sheker tirchak – ”Distance yourself from falsehood,” warning us not only not to violate this sin, but to keep away from it as we would from a pestilence — whether against others or one’s own self.

Can Armstrong be forgiven and redeemed? The Talmud states: “Whoever transgresses and is embarrassed by it, all his sins are forgiven” (Berachot 12b). This is because to admit one’s sins is one of the most difficult things for a person to do. He confessed in public before millions of viewers — which is appropriate, having lied to millions of fans over the years. Nothing stands in the face of true repentance, and only time will tell if his repentance is genuine. One hopes that it is not a ploy, as some are suggesting, getting his penalties reduced in order to compete once again. Given his past performance – and “performance” is the precise word – one can be forgiven for being a bit skeptical , especially since his confession came only after there was overwhelming evidence against him..

L’affaire Armstrong underscores the comment of the Sages: sheker ein lah raglayim – “falsehood has no leg to stand on.” Note that the Hebrew word for falsehood, sheker, has a shin, a kof and a reish. In the normative Ashkenazic script, each of these three letters has only one leg, and thus cannot stand on its own. But in the word for truth, emet, each of its three letters aleph, mem, tof, has two solid legs. God is the God of Truth, Emet, the Torah is Torat Emet, a Torah of Truth, and neither can abide deviations from Truth. Though falsehood seems to fly high for a while, that is only temporary. Ultimately it self-destructs because by definition it is anti-God and has no leg to stand on.

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About the Author

Rabbi Emanuel Feldman is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Jacob where he was Rabbi from 1952 until 1991. For thirteen years he was the editor of Tradition Magazine, the scholarly quarterly published by the Rabbinical Council of America. He is a former Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America where he also served as Vice President of its Beis Din (Rabbinical Court).

Ordained by Baltimore’s Ner Israel Rabbinical College, he holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. from Emory University. Rabbi Emanuel Feldman served as Adjunct Professor of Jewish Law at Emory University School of Law, and as Senior Lecturer at Bar Ilan University in Israel.

He has written nine books and over 100 published articles in magazines and newspapers such as Saturday Review, The New Republic, The Jerusalem Post and numerous Anglo-Jewish periodicals here and abroad.

Since his formal retirement from the active pulpit in 1991, Rabbi Emanuel Feldman has been dividing his time between the United States and Jerusalem. In Jerusalem he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Rashi Translation Project of Jerusalem’s Ariel Research Institute, which has recently published The Ariel Chumash. Presently, he is on the editorial staff of the Encyclopedia of Mitzvot.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 37

(26)
Imelda Yochevet Uziel Pearce,
February 12, 2013 8:03 PM

Your writing style is inspirational

Usually, when I've written an article, I struggle for a good ending sentence. Your ending sums it up and inspires me to try writing again. I also cherish your insight about the Hebrew letters, and how falsehood has no leg to stand on but Emet has two solid legs. Elohim is amazing in the wisdom he gave us with his language.

(25)
Michal Selber,
January 29, 2013 3:26 PM

Our society breeds such lies

Good article. What Lance Armstrong did was very wrong. That being said, I believe we also have to address the issue in the context of all the lies that daily go on in our society. Bill Clinton, Anthony Wiener, the Frenchman who accosted the room maid, etc, times a thousand. And what about the politicians and their lies and coverups, now taking place.
Our society, not only Lance Armstrong, is mired in lies. In fact, I saw him quoted as saying that he used the drugs in order to level the playing field, that so many of his competitors were doing it, he thought he needed to as well. Does that excuse him? Of course not. But it muddies the water for society in general.
I remember the Watergate hearings. Actually the thing that stands out most clearly in my mind is that some of those who were on the judging side regarding Watergate were THEMSELVES later investigated and convicted for their own crimes.
What do we do about it? Well, for starters, we don't make Bill Clinton the huge star of our society that he now is. We don't allow Anthony Weiner to run again for office, as he is now doing. We don't allow sports heroes/rockstars who then behave like lowlifes to continue getting salaries that are hundreds of times the average hardworking person does. And we hold our politicians accountable for telling the truth, no matter how high their office.
Until our heroes are people who overcome odds to do the right thing, we'll just continue to speak out about against one liar or lowlife at a time. In the "money-fame-power is everything" society in which we live no better can be expected.

(24)
HannahNana,
January 27, 2013 8:52 PM

Right On Rabbi !

I will take these words to ponder. I never liked him b/c of how he mistreated his wife. I wasn't in awe of him but I have been shaken by the elaborate, yet seemingly effortless hypocrisy and betrayal.
Lies begin as babies. I like that remark.( Vice and Virtue both).
I truly immerse myself in the etomology in this lesson. MORE!
Shabbat 55a or Shmot 23:7 ?

(23)
Marvin K,
January 27, 2013 1:37 AM

Huckster

Lance Armstrong is the Bernie Madoff of competition biking. Excomunication from biking is appropriate. If his so-called foundation suffers, so be it. After all, Al Capone fed soup lines during the Great Depression. That didn't make him less of a murdering gangster.

(22)
Greg,
January 26, 2013 12:10 AM

Will we ask forgiveness from those whose lives he destroyed?

Simply admitting sin, being embarassed and asking society for forgiveness cannot be enough. He threaten to destroy those who accused him and did so in several cases. Will he be able to look those people in the eyes and humble himself before them? Will he compensate them for what he has done?

(21)
Michael Freeman,
January 25, 2013 2:58 PM

Distance yourself from falsehood

Wise words indeed, but they are found in Shmot 23:7.

(20)
Anonymous,
January 23, 2013 10:36 AM

Lies kill, what about coffee?

The lesson of the Rabbi is clear and right.The same goes also for politicians. They lie, they promise to their constituency, and they do the opposite what they are chosen for. Then they disappear into nothingness. Meanwhile what would have happened if Amstrong had drunk a lot of coffee, would he still have won?

(19)
Simon Smith,
January 23, 2013 4:12 AM

The admissions of Mr. Armstrong should make our blood run cold. How easily any of us could be dragged into ruinous sin. Let us not forget the sins of the kings of Israel and Judah. Especially Kings Saul, David and the wise Soloman. Each had experiences with Ha Shem beyond that of Lance Armstrong or most of us. They had the Law and the Commandments. Prov. 12.3 reads, "A man will not be established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous will not be moved.

(18)
SusanE,
January 23, 2013 3:33 AM

Lance Armstrong - Livestrong?

He is a bicycle rider and a con man. Never has been an athlete, or competitor or a sportsman or a chairitable man. The shame is that the public actually held him in high regard, when he was publicly reported as doping all along. - - - It is never one man who can pull off such a lie for that many years. Everyone knew, but the amount of money being pulled in from his non-profit and his endorsements was too great to have him outed. All of them were a bunch of bums, profiting from the cancer, from the charities of children, from the bicycle riding, brands, and lets not forget those millions of yellow rubber bracelets. Football dopes. Baseball dopes. Weightlifting dopes. I feel that many Olympic athletes also dope. The Tour de France just did it so well. - - - - -

(17)
sbeveridge,
January 22, 2013 10:25 PM

comment on So-What

PEDs do not give you anything. They enable you to tap into reserves that are normally 'reserves'. In the end the reserves are depleted and not available later if and when required. All that will happen to Armstrong is that he has aged prematurely. Check him again in 20 years. The moral is to look beyond the creature to the Creator.

(16)
orah eve,
January 22, 2013 9:35 PM

In Shakespeare's words (l'havdil..)

To paraphrase Rabbi Feldman's incisive and sagacious words, "To thine own self be true...and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." (William Shakespeare)

(15)
Marlene Langert,
January 22, 2013 8:02 PM

Always full of himself

Many years ago abook came out about Lance Armstrong's biography. I atepted to read it. I found it impossible to get past the first few pages, which is quite unusual for me, because he was so full of himself, I could not stand it. So, after those few pages, I threw it away, not gave it away, but threw it away. I could feel the evil coming out of the book. Again, quite unusual for me. I hardly knew of such things. I knew I did not want anyone else subjected to reading this book.

(14)
Marion,
January 22, 2013 7:26 PM

Everything Rav Feldman says is true. But he neglects a far more important issue: why is it that we as a society are so enamored of sports figures that we obsess over their successes and failures? Why do we as a society put so much energy into winning a game or a competition that players need to dope up in order to win and gain our accolades? Did this guy invent a cure for cancer? NO. Did he come up with a brilliant interpretation of Torah? NO. Did he cure world hunger or intervene in the Middle East to bring about a climate for peace? NO. What he did was to ride a bike for three weeks at a time. He won a series of races, for pity's sake. I enjoyed watching the Tour d'France and cheered Armstrong on.His accomplishments, drug-enhanced or not, were considerable. But while they made us feel great at the time, they did absolutely nothing to change the world, to advance the course of history. So perhaps we need to put his issues into perspective. His was a personal failing, albeit one that his hero-worshipping public helped goad him into. Whether his contrition is genuine or not is between him and his fans, and more cogent, between him and his Creator. It isn''t our place to judge. And in the larger scheme of things, his doping, his lying, and what he does from now on, are about as major as a wart on a frog. Sure, we can take a lesson from it all--lying is wrong; there are consequences. But we can get the same lesson from reading Torah, from listening to our parents. So let's let Armstrong live with his very public humiliation and let's concentrate on how we can live a better life. Enough, already!!

eve,
January 22, 2013 9:25 PM

what a long-winded response!

For someone who recommends using our precious time to study Torah instead of wasting our energy on finding moral flaws with sports heroes, you sure put a lot of time and energy into this response to Rabbi Feldman's article. Time perhaps better spent delving into Torah learning!

Leta Cooper,
January 22, 2013 9:44 PM

Sin

You wrote a well articulated thought. In watching Mr. Armstrong fall all over himself publicly like he did was a lesson for us all to learn and remember what God wants from us on a daily basses. Thank you for saying all that you did to remind us of our human failings and to try not do them. Let God be a light unto our feet.

(13)
Sofer Lippman,
January 22, 2013 7:22 PM

An excellent article

Thank you Rabbi - I enjoyed the section about truth not having a leg to stand on.

(12)
Dan Levi-Gomez,
January 22, 2013 7:19 PM

Short Reflection.

There ,for the grace of G_D goes I.I pass no moral judgement on MR.Armstrong,who knows if in his place I would do worst.
I feel sad for him,he rose very high and his fall was horrible.
But there is always redemption when we admit our errors.

(11)
Naamah,
January 22, 2013 7:10 PM

So What

Rather than getting all bent out of shape over the lie, they ought to be looking into the PED. Obviously they work very well and should be marketed to other athletes.

(10)
Michy,
January 22, 2013 6:48 PM

What about the innocent lives he destroyed?

He slandered and sued people who told the truth. He made people spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars they didn't have to defend themselves while he lied. Some of those people are Iikely broke now, with shredded reputations. Lance should pay the legal fees of all those people. His behavior is disgusting.

(9)
Norman,
January 22, 2013 6:36 PM

His denials affected others

Rabbi Feldman writes
"It was not so much the doping – bad enough – that wounded us; it was the ongoing, passionate declarations of aggrieved innocence that betrayed us and played us for fools.
It was a form of moral violence committed against millions of people who trusted him. Though he did not attack us with guns and bullets, it was traumatic nevertheless, for this was a spiritual assault on our ability to trust in other human beings. He gave new meaning to the concept of hypocrisy, and thus affronted our innate sense of truth and integrity."
But that was not the worst aspect surely.
It was the way Mr. Armstrong treated many of those who rightly accused him of cheating. He denigrated, he attacked, he vilified, he mocked, he accused many of lying. He did not attack with guns and bullets, but attack he certainly did. I have heard some of those whom he attacked and their distress seemed palpable to me.
Was that behaviour not as bad as the cheating?
Whether Mr. Armstrong can make amends and how he does so is a different question.

(8)
urban_guy,
January 22, 2013 6:06 PM

.......and soon on the big screen!!!

what a shyster this guy is....all planned to build him back up again....
His confessions and repentance fall on hollow ears.
He destroyed a lot of people along the way...

(7)
Chaim Chunah,
January 22, 2013 5:45 PM

Idols; Sports or Otherwise

The second of the Aseres Hadibros (Ten Commandments) is on us; to not make things or people into idols. We will surely be dissapointed when we do, is Hashem's message to us.

(6)
Boca Mom,
January 22, 2013 5:06 PM

hard on the children who idolized him

My 17 year old son, who watched Lance with his dad (an avid cyclist) for years, does not believe this is true. He is saying it must be twisted- he did not see the interview, I did see part of it on andrerson Cooper's show and it was pretty clear he admitted guilt. but my son held this man as a role model and now what do I tell him? It's very hard for someone who grew up thinking this was a man to respect and admire, a man who overcame so much and accomplished greatness, to find that man so flawed, his greatness tainted. I for one would have rather he kept lying. The story he told was more inspirational than the truth. It's sad, but I see nothing good from his 'coming clean'

(5)
ruth housman,
January 22, 2013 4:49 PM

righteous indignation

to Lance a wound: Mr. Armstrong used his fame ti embrace those who suffered with cancet and against all 'odds' he survived. The 'od' in G-d. Given the existence of Divine Providence, the 'od' too on this word for fate, I would say do not throw stones! We are ALL made fallible, and he has done great things.

(4)
Anonymous,
January 22, 2013 4:37 PM

It Takes More of a Man to Admit His Lies

I think what we forget to admit is we only should follow God. God alone is the only perfection in this world. Lance is just a man. It's been proven time and time again that no man is perfect.

(3)
Judah eastman,
January 22, 2013 4:27 PM

Business is bussiness

What cigarette companies coca cola pepsi mars candies sugar coated foods Doctors who make a living doing many false unneeded operations stockbrokers investment bankers politicians he is not right but he gave the world what they wanted this is nothing compared to the others he only hurt himself

(2)
Tamara,
January 22, 2013 4:02 PM

Indeed good for life lesson but what about business

I have worked with many who dismiss their white lies as the nature of doing business. I admit it has been bothersome and hypocritical but no one was wounded and the risk of financial wound is avoided. Thoughts?

Stanley Tee,
January 22, 2013 4:28 PM

No-one was wounded?

The entire sport of cycling and every athlete who has ever aspired to be great, was wounded, deeply, by this. I am no athlete, but I cycle recreationally. It's a tough, demanding sport and the feeling of satisfaction at completing a hard ride is what makes it all worthwhile. We look to people like Armstrong to make us strive that little bit harder, ride that little bit further, ask that little bit more of ourselves. If he can climb that mountain, surely we can get up this hill. But now, we discover that he had artificial help getting up the mountain and we are left to struggle on our own.

Anonymous,
January 22, 2013 6:13 PM

Lying already to yourself

When we lie it is bad on many levels. You know lying is wrong because you can identify it. Once you accept that what else is next. If we are honest with ourselves we cant say, oh I didnt know. How does any bad behavior start? Did the alcoholic start at some point and wonder if his drinking was too much and needed help? Or a patronizing husband lie to his wife because he doesnt think she is important enough to go through all the details. Years later when they file for divorce it may have started there when it was a simple lie. The truth is never easy but it is the best way. Lance Armstrong lied to himself when he thought a title of being the best was more important than his honest hard work. We all tell ourselves lies that we shouldnt. Maybe its better to understand ourselves by telling the truth instead of ending up telling it to therapists or to the world.

Lisa,
January 23, 2013 1:01 AM

The #2 guy......

What about the guy who came in second? The rightful winner? I'd say he was wounded!!

(1)
Rica Mendes,
January 22, 2013 3:59 PM

Lying by exclusion

Shame on you! Should G-d on Yom Kippur scold us in the midst of our teshuvah?! And let's also not forget that lying by exclusion counts - you completely all the REMARKABLE GOOD that this man has done! The near obsessive charity work, etc. His participation in Tikkun Olan for cancer survivors around the world surely counts towards restitution! How does this not make you a rakil? For shame!

jerry,
January 22, 2013 4:05 PM

give me a break

for shame? pleez. armstrong has all this coming, and more. the man is a heartless manipulator who has lied for years. His oprah appearance was a clever calculated attempt at salvaging his shredded reputation. I don't think he's really learned his lesson yet. Rabbi Feldman's points are spot on.

Sue,
January 22, 2013 6:02 PM

To Jerry

I totally agree with you and with Rabbi Feldman's excellent article. Lance Armstrong's lies must have hurt innumerable people who trusted and admired him. I don't think you can "offset" one thing against another, as Rica would seem to suggest. I don't think Armstrong is truly repentant either; or if he is, it's probably that he's sorry to have been caught out rather than true repentance for the massive lying.

Anonymous,
January 22, 2013 4:19 PM

reply to rica

With all due respect the Rabbi did not scold Lance Armstrong in his teshuva - he analyzed the mindset behind his sin and taught us important lessons that apply to our own lives. He the posed a reasonable question with regards to his sincerity. And he was not discussing Mr Armstrong's good deeds - they are very commendable but this was a discussion about this one particular aspect of his life.

Alan S.,
January 22, 2013 10:44 PM

Sorry Rica....

The Rabbi wrote an excellent article, and has nothing to be ashamed about. While Armstrong has done good deeds, had he not used PED's, he likely would not have won any Tour de France's, nor received millions in contracts. It was his PED's that enabled him to donate millions for good causes and lend his name. Who should benefit by his tainted money?

Anonymous,
January 23, 2013 1:04 AM

Do the means justify the end?

So what you are saying is stealing from the rich to give to the poor....is OK?

Alan S.,
January 23, 2013 10:39 PM

No, stealing is stealing, regardless of the intent. Please re-read my comment. Tainted money is of no benefit to anyone.

I’m wondering what happened to the House of David. After the end of the Kingdom of Judah was there any memory what happened to King David’s descendants? Is there any family today which can trace its lineage to David – and whom the Messiah might descend from?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Thank you for your good question. There is no question that King David’s descendants are alive today. God promised David through Nathan the Prophet that the monarchy would never depart from his family (II Samuel 7:16). The prophets likewise foretell the ultimate coming of the Messiah, descendant of David, the “branch which will extend from the trunk of Jesse,” who will restore the Davidic dynasty and Israel’s sovereignty (Isaiah 11:1, see also Jeremiah 33:15, Ezekiel 37:25).

King David’s initial dynasty came to an end with the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian Exile. In an earlier expulsion King Jehoiachin was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar, together with his family and several thousand of the Torah scholars and higher classes (II Kings 24:14-16). Eleven years later the Temple was destroyed. The final king of Judah, Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah, was too exiled to Babylonia. He was blinded and his children were executed (II Kings 25:7).

However, Jehoiachin and his descendants did survive in exile. Babylonian cuneiform records actually attest to Jehoiachin and his family receiving food rations from the government. I Chronicles 3:17:24 likewise lists several generations of his descendants (either 9 or 15 generations, depending on the precise interpretation of the verses), which would have extended well into the Second Temple era. (One was the notable Zerubbabel, grandson of Jehoiachin, who was one of the leaders of the return to Zion and the construction the Second Temple.)

In Babylonia, the leader of the Jewish community was known as the Reish Galuta (Aramaic for “head of the exile,” called the Exilarch in English). This was a hereditary position recognized by the Babylonian government. Its bearer was generally quite wealthy and powerful, well-connected to the government and wielding much authority over Babylonian Jewry.

According to Jewish tradition, the Exilarch was a direct descendant of Jehoiachin. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 5a) understands Genesis 49:10 – Jacob’s blessing to Judah that “the staff would not be removed from Judah” – as a reference to the Exilarchs in Babylonia, “who would chastise Israel with the staff,” i.e., who exercised temporal authority over the Jewish community. It stands to reason that these descendants of Judah were descendants of David’s house, who would have naturally been the leaders of the Babylonian community, in fulfillment of God’s promise to David that authority would always rest in his descendants.

There is also a chronological work, Seder Olam Zutta (an anonymous text from the early Middle Ages), which lists 39 generations of Exilarchs beginning with Jehoiachin. One of the commentators to Chronicles, the Vilna Gaon, states that the first one was Elionai of I Chronicles 3:23.

The position of Exilarch lasted for many centuries. The Reish Galuta is mentioned quite often in the Talmud. As can be expected, some were quite learned themselves, some deferred to the rabbis for religious matters, while some, especially in the later years, fought them and their authority tooth and nail.

Exilarchs existed well into the Middle Ages, throughout the period of the early medieval scholars known as the Gaonim. The last ones known to history was Hezekiah, who was killed in 1040 by the Babylonian authorities, although he was believed to have had sons who escaped to Iberia. There are likewise later historical references to descendants of the Exilarchs, especially in northern Spain (Catelonia) and southern France (Provence).

Beyond that, there is no concrete evidence as to the whereabouts of King David’s descendants. Supposedly, the great French medieval sage Rashi (R. Shlomo Yitzchaki) traced his lineage to King David, although on a maternal line. (In addition, Rashi himself had only daughters.) The same is said of Rabbi Yehuda Loewe of Prague (the Maharal). Since Ashkenazi Jews are so interrelated, this is a tradition, however dubious today, shared by many Ashkenazi Jews.

In any event, we do not need be concerned today how the Messiah son of David will be identified. He will be a prophet, second only to Moses. God Himself will select him and appoint him to his task. And he himself, with his Divine inspiration, will resolve all other matters of Jewish lineage (Maimonides Hilchot Melachim 12:3).

Yahrtzeit of Kalonymus Z. Wissotzky, a famous Russian Jewish philanthropist who died in 1904. Wissotzky once owned the tea concession for the Czar's entire military operation. Since the Czar's soldiers numbered in the millions and tea drinking was a daily Russian custom, this concession made Wissotzky very rich. One day, Wissotzky was approached by the World Zionist Organization to begin a tea business in Israel. He laughed at this preposterous idea: the market was small, the Turkish bureaucracy was strict, and tea leaves from India were too costly to import. Jewish leaders persisted, and Wissotzky started a small tea company in Israel. After his death, the tea company passed to his heirs. Then in 1917, the communists swept to power in Russia, seizing all of the Wissotzky company's assets. The only business left in their possession was the small tea company in Israel. The family fled Russia, built the Israeli business, and today Wissotzky is a leading brand of tea in Israel, with exports to countries worldwide -- including Russia.

Building by youth may be destructive, while when elders dismantle, it is constructive (Nedarim 40a).

It seems paradoxical, but it is true. We make the most important decisions of our lives when we are young and inexperienced, and our maximum wisdom comes at an age when our lives are essentially behind us, and no decisions of great moment remain to be made.

While the solution to this mystery eludes us, the facts are evident, and we would be wise to adapt to them. When we are young and inexperienced, we can ask our elders for their opinion and then benefit from their wisdom. When their advice does not coincide with what we think is best, we would do ourselves a great service if we deferred to their counsel.

It may not be popular to champion this concept. Although we have emerged from the era of the `60s, when accepting the opinion of anyone over thirty was anathema, the attitude of dismissing older people as antiquated and obsolete has-beens who lack the omniscience of computerized intelligence still lingers on.

Those who refuse to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. We would do well to swallow our youthful pride and benefit from the teachings of the school of experience.

Today I shall...

seek advice from my elders and give more serious consideration to deferring to their advice when it conflicts with my desires.

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